Political Science 1020E Lecture Notes - Lecture 20: Surplus Labour, Universal Suffrage, Class Conflict
10 Dec 2016
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Document Summary
Karl marx on exploitation, the state, and human nature. Exploitation is the extraction of surplus labour. Capitalist profit is the surplus value created by workers. History is the history of class struggle. Conflicts of interest are linked to our relation to the means of production. The state exists to deal with conflicts of interest generated by coercive surplus extraction. The state as a committee for managing the common interests of the bourgeoisie (based on 19th century british politics) The state as an independent actor (based on 19th century british and. Revolution is likely in states that fail to integrate their excluded classes. Bismarck(cid:495)s strategy: buy off the working class and maintain a loyal army. Universal suffrage could lead to the election of a socialist government. Universality: overcoming divisions: objection: particularity is permanent. Humans beings are creative producers: objection: labour is not our essence. Equality: remove hierarchy and redistribute based on need.
